ISLAMABAD: While addressing the first steering committee meeting of the Pakistan-China Business and Investment Forum (PCBIF), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Monday that he looked forward to meeting the Chinese leadership for a series of productive and fruitful meetings aimed at boosting business, strategic and people-to-people relations.
The prime minister stressed the need for emulating the Chinese model of development for the sustainable progress and prosperity of Pakistan.
The prime minister also emphasised creating favourable environment for building a business-to-business relationship between the two countries.
“A huge potential exists between the two countries,” he pointed out. He also called for streamlining the business procedures in Pakistan to benefit from China.
The prime minister also termed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a game-changer for the development of Pakistan.
He recalled how the CPEC projects helped Pakistan overcome power outages. The prime minister pointed out that the CPEC projects would increase not only dividends for Pakistan but also its business presence in China.
He stressed the need for relocating the labour-intensive Chinese industry in Pakistan by establishing Special Economic Zones. He termed it a win-win scenario for the business houses of both the countries.
In the agriculture sector, he suggested learning from the Chinese modern techniques to increase crop yield. He expressed gratitude to China for being one of the largest donors of relief goods for the flood-hit people in Pakistan.
He also lauded the efforts of Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong for his immense contribution towards strengthening Pak-China relations.
On the occasion, Federal Minister for Board of Investment (BOI) Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that the BOI was fostering business cooperation between Pakistan and China.
Addressing the first steering committee meeting of the PCBIF, he said that the BOI had also signed a framework agreement to promote Special Economic Zones and relocate industries in Pakistan.
The federal minister also said that the BOI had drafted a set of joint initiatives for industrial cooperation which would be submitted to the Chinese investors and enterprises during the visit of PM Shehbaz Sharif to China the following day.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday met Chinese ambassador Nong Rong.
Matters relating to the prime minister’s two-day visit to China from Tuesday were discussed.
It was agreed in the meeting that the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to China would further strengthen the trade and economic ties.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi was also present in the meeting.
